Today's task was just what I needed — a reset button after my weeklong Cooking Cure hiatus, which I wrote about yesterday. It reminded me how essential it is to take a little time every week to assess how things are going. It may feel like our plans are a well-oiled machine prepped to run on autopilot, but that's rarely how it works out. (Don't we know it.) In thinking about my meals for the rest of the week today, here are the two things that stood out to me:

1. Making a few things ahead really DOES make all the difference.

Last night during dinner I made a batch of French lentils and a pot of farro. I hadn't planned on doing this, but as I had a big pot of soup simmering on the stove, I thought why not just use the wait time to make a few other things as well! Prepping ingredients ahead of time was actually one of my lunch goals, so recommitting to that at the beginning of this week felt like a strong step forward. Now I've got lentils ready to go for my Frenchie Lentil Salad (my chosen lunch for two days this week), and a container of farro for a quick deluxe dinner bowl.

2. I need more protein at breakfast.

In an effort to boost my protein intake at breakfast, I'm adjusting my breakfast plans this week to include more eggs and avocado (perhaps a breakfast burrito or two), and moving the fruit to a mid-morning snack. I'm also adding a tablespoon of peanut butter to my steel-cut oatmeal just to amp up the protein count a bit. Small changes, but necessary.